


A Child of the Universe

by fembuck



Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 03:48:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fembuck/pseuds/fembuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erica calls Franky to her office to discuss a situation brewing among the women, but as usual the meeting does not go as she intended.  Takes place post-season finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Child of the Universe

_“You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”  
   - Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata" _

 

Erica’s palms were pressed flat against the top of her desk, her back was rigid, and her jaw was tightly clenched as she sucked a deep breath in through her nostrils.  On the other side of her desk, Franky sat loose and relaxed, her arms resting on her knees as she smirked at Erica knowingly.

“Can’t you just--” Erica stopped mid-sentence and closed her eyes, trying to marshal her strength.  “Can you just … behave?  For once?” she asked a bit helplessly, her tone both exasperated and pleading as she met Franky’s eyes.  “Don’t you ever want to do the right thing _because_ it’s the right thing?”

“Nah.”  Franky shook her head ‘no’ and continued to smile.  “Why?” she asked, as she leaned against the back of her chair.  “What would be the point of that?  I have wants, Miss Davidson.  I have desires.”  Her voice was low and rough as she studied Erica intently with her keen, dark eyes.  “Why pretend not to?  Ignoring things doesn’t make them go away,” she declared pointedly.

“This isn’t about denial--” Erica began, but before she could say anything more, Franky laughed loudly and scathingly.

“Okay,” Franky muttered sarcastically.  A condescending smile played across her lips.

Erica’s nostrils flared in annoyance.  She breathed out roughly through her nose.  She had to stay calm.  One of them had to act like an adult and it clearly wasn’t going to be Franky.

“Are you done?” Erica asked.

“That’s up to you, isn’t it?” Franky replied, cool and collected, utterly unaffected by Erica’s displeasure.

“This--” Erica dropped her eyes to the top of her desk and sighed deeply.  “It isn’t a game, Franky.”  She looked up and over at the brunette again.  “I need your help.” She consciously softened her voice and gentled her expression.  “The _women_ need your help.  It won’t kill you, you know,” she smiled a little, “to put the well-being of the others before your own desires, just this once.”

“That works for you, does it?” Franky asked challengingly.   “Are you bursting with joy and contentment?” She leaned forward, studying Erica’s face intently.  The blonde’s reaction to her words was subtle, but she saw Erica flinch.  “Governor, heal thyself.  You gotta take care of yourself before you can save someone else,” Franky shared sagely.

“That’s a very convenient philosophy.” Erica’s voice was calm as she met Franky’s eyes, but her body was tense.

“You would know.” Franky paused and smirked.  “Wouldn’t you, _Governor_?” she continued emphasizing Erica’s title pointedly.  “The little mouse was next in line, wasn’t she?  But here you are.” She waved her hand at Erica in a grand, sweeping gesture.  “With your shiny new programs, and your ideas about rehabilitation and the necessity of blah blah, you’re just bubbling over with helpful ideas.  But you had to become Governor before you could start sprucing this place up, didn’t ya?  Whaddya wanna bet Bennett still has stiletto marks on her back from where you walked all over her?”

Erica’s body tensed as she listened to Franky speak, but she didn’t respond to the brunette right away.  She couldn’t, because Franky was right.  One of the reasons she was able to anticipate what problems would arise within the inmate hierarchy was because she understood how people fought each other for power.  The violence the inmates used to achieve their goals was alien to Erica, but she understood calculation, manipulation, misdirection, self-preservation, and the myriad of other factors that played a part in battles for control.  She understood the game, and Franky had always been able to see it.  That, Erica thought with a sigh, was one of the most thrilling and frustrating things about talking with Franky.  The brunette was so clever.  Her mind worked quickly.  She was able to challenge Erica in ways that most of the inmates and her staff couldn’t.  She called Erica on things that other people were too weak or polite to.  Franky did not let her hide.

“This isn’t about me,” Erica said finally.

Franky rolled her eyes.

“Of course it is.” Franky replied.  “I’ve made it about you,” she explained slowly, as if she was explaining a difficult concept to a child.  “I can handle my own shit.  I can take care of my girls.  We’ve got our own way of doing things down there,” Franky related, her voice serious now instead of baiting.  “You want to take care of this problem your way, because your way gives you something to talk about on the evening news.”

“You don’t know what--” Erica protested indignantly.

“Whatever,” Franky cut in, waving Erica’s protests away with a dismissive flick of her wrist.  “Don’t you get it?  You don’t need to pretend with me.  You might be a scheming, lying, overly ambitious, manipulative bitch, but I’m in prison.  I’m not gonna judge you because you help people in order to help yourself.”

“That’s not why--”

“Oh my god,” Franky moaned in frustration.  “Do you ever stop lying?”

“I’m not--”

“Ugh,” Franky growled, standing up so abruptly that the motion was almost violent.

She began to pace.

“Franky.” Erica watched the brunette carefully as she stalked back and forth like a restless wild cat.  “Please sit down.”

“No.” Franky’s posture was tense and her tone petulant.

Erica sighed and leaned back in her chair.

She’d seen Franky like this before so she knew that it was useless trying to reason with her.  She needed to let Franky move around and let off a little steam.  She needed to give Franky some space.  Then, when the brunette was ready she would engage Erica again.

“Are we doing a deal or not?” Franky asked a short while later, glaring at Erica from the middle of the office.

“If you sit down we can discuss--”

“There’s nothing to discuss.  You know what I want,” Franky cut in harshly.

Her tone and posture were hostile, but despite that she moved back over to the chair she had vacated a couple of minutes before and sat down again.

“If you want my help, you know how to get it,” she continued in a more reasonable tone of voice, though her body was still coiled with tension.

“I can’t do it, Franky,” Erica replied, struggling to keep her voice steady as her heart pounded in her chest.  She wasn’t scared per say.  Franky’s angry outburst didn’t make her fear for her safety.  But it did make her feel shaky and light-headed, and that unsettled her.

“No, you **won’t** do it, _Erica_.”  Franky’s voice was snide as she stared at Erica.  “Send in the screw.”  She angled her head away from Erica.  “You’re wasting my time,” she muttered, staring resolutely at the back of the office door.

“Franky,” Erica said beseechingly.

Franky didn’t move, make a sound, or otherwise indicate that she had heard Erica speaking to her.

“Franky,” Erica said a bit more insistently.

Franky continued to ignore her.

“Goddammit, Franky!” Erica exclaimed, finally at her limit.  “I can’t just go around doing whatever the hell I feel like, whenever the hell I feel like it.  I have responsibilities.  This,” she said, gesturing between them aggressively, “would ruin me.  I’d be sacked.”

“Only if they find out,” Franky replied.

“Only if--” Erica began, releasing an incredulous puff of air that turned into a bout of hopeless, defeated laughter.  “What world are you living in?” Erica exclaimed once she had pulled herself back together.  “They always find out.  If wishing to get away with something was enough to _actually_ get away with it, I wouldn’t have a job!”

“So that’s it then?” Franky asked disdainfully.

“Yes!” Erica replied hotly.  “It has to be.”

Franky exhaled contemptuously and shook her head.

“You’re such a fucking coward,” she stated, looking and sounding absolutely disgusted with Erica.

“No, I’m a fucking _adult_ ,” Erica shot back loudly.  Too loudly, she feared. 

She glanced to the side, looking out of her office window to see if her secretary had heard her, but Jean was still focused on her computer screen.

“Is the coast clear?” Franky asked scornfully when Erica turned back to her.  “We wouldn’t want anyone to catch you acting like a human being.”

Erica stared at her disbelievingly for a moment and then sighed, “Oh my god, Franky.  What do you want from me?” She sounded exasperated and tired as she lifted her hands up in the air imploringly.

“How about a little fucking honesty,” Franky suggested.  “It won’t kill you, you know.  To stop pretending, just this once,” she continued, tossing Erica’s words from earlier back at her.

“I’m not fucking pretending,” Erica began heatedly. “Not anymore,” she added hastily when she saw Franky’s lips part to make a response.  “I kissed you, okay?” she continued, her eyes unconsciously drifting to the corner of her office where they had kissed.  “I’m attracted to you.  I find you charming,” she admitted softly.  Even at that moment, with Franky tearing chunks out of her, she still felt a tug at her heart every time she looked at the brunette.  “I’m not denying that, but…”

“Here it comes,” Franky muttered.   She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, preparing herself for more of Erica’s bullshit.

“It can’t happen,” Erica said, ignoring Franky’s snitty comment.

“Right,” Franky said, nodding her head condescendingly.  “Okay.”

“It can’t,” Erica repeated, not appreciating Franky’s flippant tone.

“Yeah, I heard you.  I’m not fucking deaf,” Franky muttered.

They sat in silence for a minute, Franky aggressively staring at the office door with her arms crossed defensively over her chest, while Erica stared out of the outside window, looking up at the blue sky as she breathed in and out deeply in an attempt to find some calm.

“Are you going to help me?” Erica asked eventually, turning from the window to face Franky.

“You won’t let me,” Franky replied, not bothering to turn her head to face Erica as she spoke.

“Jesus,” Erica sighed, tilting her head back in frustration.  “I told you I can’t do what you want me to.”

“You can,” Franky said, finally deigning to face Erica again.  “You want to, but you won’t.  Cause you’re a pussy.”

Erica’s eyes flashed with anger and Franky smirked at her goadingly. 

“You do understand that glass is transparent, don’t you?” Erica asked, her voice a study in passive-aggressive irritation.  “This isn’t a porno, Franky.  Everyone isn’t going to suddenly go out to lunch, conveniently leaving us alone to play while spying eyes are away.  Someone would see us.”

Franky was silent for a moment after Erica spoke, allowing Erica’s admission of desire for them to do something that someone could see, to hang heavily in the air.

“I said I wanted to see you come,” Franky finally drawled.  “I didn’t say I was going to fuck you,” she continued, noting with pleasure the way Erica’s breath hitched when the words ‘fuck you’ fell from her lips.

“How el …” Erica paused and blinked a few times, trying to clear her mind when it filled with thoughts of Franky and fucking.  “What do you mean?”

“I know that glass is transparent,” Franky began, her voice gently teasing.  “I also know that nobody’s walked by that window since I’ve been here, and your secretary’s only looked over once, and that was when she was stretching.”

“So,” Erica prompted, her chest rising and falling faster as she waited anxiously for Franky to explain the significance of her observations.

“So, no one will see anything.  There won’t be anything to see.  You’re going to keep sitting there and I’m going to keep sitting here.  You’re going to roll your chair closer to your desk and angle yourself to the side so that _if_ anyone does walk by all they’ll see is your back.  Then,” Franky paused for affect, “you’re going to close your eyes, push up your skirt and fuck yourself as I describe what I want to do to you.”

Erica was still as a statue in the wake of Franky’s words, but inside she was in a state of chaos, her mind rebelling against the idea of touching herself in front of Franky, while her body flushed with pleasure at the thought.  There was always a faint aching between her legs whenever she was around Franky, but the thought of touching herself as Franky watched her instantly turned that slight ache into a desperate throbbing and … Erica’s eyes closed as she shifted in her chair, just managing to hold back a moan. 

“You are a child of the universe, Erica,” Franky breathed out, easily able to read the desire beneath the tension in Erica’s body.  “No less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be,” she said softly, reciting a passage she had memorized from a book of poetry that Erica had had sent to her cell back when she was the prisoner advocate. 

Erica’s eyelashes fluttered and her hand twitched as she sucked in a deep breath.  A second later, she rolled her chair closer to the edge of her desk and angled the chair to the side, presenting her back to the window.  She kept her hands on the top of her desk however, and her body remained stiff.  She wanted it, but she was not yet able to take the final step and move her hand between her legs.

“Close your eyes,” Franky told her. 

Erica had never made what was happening between them easy, so it didn’t surprise her that Erica was still fighting her now, even though they both knew how much she wanted it.    

Erica’s eyes remained open, watching Franky with a tantalizing mixture of arousal and defiance.

“Close your fucking eyes,” Franky commanded, her words coming out quick and hard like the cracking of a whip. 

Erica’s body gave a little twitch and her eyes snapped shut, the authority in Franky’s voice making it impossible for her to disobey.

“Push up your skirt,” Franky ordered.

Erica’s body tensed visibly with effort, but she managed to keep her hands still on the desk.

“Erica,” Franky breathed out, her voice low but dangerous. 

Erica shuddered slightly. 

“Erica,” Franky husked threateningly.  “Push up your skirt now, or so help me God, I’ll shove you against that window and push it up myself.”

Erica’s eyebrows knitted together as a powerful spike of arousal pounded through her. 

She was so turned on it was almost painful. 

She bit down on her bottom lip, worrying it for a few seconds as she tried to regain some control over her body.  She tried to think of calming things, like puppies, and flowers, and scenic landscapes, but her efforts were futile.  Every safe image she managed to conjure was replaced with an erotic one. 

Walking a puppy in a park, turned into an image of herself in a collar while Franky yanked at the leash attached to it. 

Thoughts about flowers turned into images of Franky trailing petals softly over her breasts before bringing her hand back to smack the tender flesh.  

The peaceful scenic landscapes she imagined transformed into an arena of pleasure where bark dug cruelly into her tender flesh as Franky fucked her against a tree. 

Erica lifted her hand off the desk and moved it between her legs.

“Good girl,” Franky praised as Erica lifted her hips and drew her skirt from underneath her thighs so that it was bunched up around her waist.  “Put your hand inside your undies,” she directed, and this time she didn’t need to repeat the command.

Erica’s eyelashes fluttered as her fingers made contact with her flesh, and a soft sigh of relief fell from her lips.

“Are you wet?” Franky asked when Erica bit down on her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

“Yes,” Erica whispered.

“Already?” Franky breathed out.

She sounded faintly amused and Erica didn’t need to open her eyes to know that Franky was grinning at her.  She opened them anyway, and when she saw the self-satisfied smile on Franky’s face, she groaned.

“Give us a look,” Franky told her, dropping her eyes down to where Erica’s hand disappeared beneath the edge of the desk.

Erica hesitated for a moment.  Some sense of propriety had managed to claw its way to the forefront of her brain, but desire quickly chased it away.  The truth was that she wanted to show Franky her glistening fingers.  She wanted Franky to see how wet she had made her.  She wanted Franky to tell her how bad she was and then make her lick her fingers clean.  She wanted to watch Franky watch as she did.

Erica removed her hand from beneath her panties and rested it on top of the desk.   

Franky sucked in a deep breath.  She could see that the tips of Erica’s fingers were damp.  They glistened in the light, and Franky’s tongue peeked out to wet her lips.  She wanted to reach out and take Erica’s hand into hers.  She wanted to bring those slick fingers up to her lips and suck Erica off of them. 

“Put your hand back in your underwear like a good slut and close your eyes again,” Franky breathed out roughly.

Erica shivered in response to Franky’s words and her hips twitched in anticipation but her eyes narrowed warningly. 

Erica’s reactions to her words were so incongruous that Franky almost smiled.  It was classic Erica; smiling and telling her to stop, kissing her and pushing her away, shivering and humping the air in pleasure while glaring at her.  Erica was always fighting a futile war against her desires.

“Erica,” Franky began, speaking slowly and deliberately.  “Close your fucking eyes or I’m going to bend you over this desk and beat your arse so hard every screw on this floor will hear you screaming.”

Erica’s lips parted and a soft groan fell from them.  Her eyes snapped shut and head tilted back in pleasure as her fingers began to rub at her clit harder and faster.

“Can you imagine,” Franky began, knowing that Erica _was_ imagining everything, “all of them standing outside, looking at you bent over your desk, watching your ass get smacked raw.  Poor Miss Davidson, they’d think,” Franky continued as Erica shifted in her chair, spreading her legs wider so that she had more room to work.  “Until I spread you open and they see how wet you are.”

Erica’s fingers rubbed persistently as Franky’s words came to life behind her, enclosed her.  She could _see_ Franky stroking her fingers through her wetness.  She could imagine the cool office air tickling her exposed, vulnerable cunt as Franky turned to the window with a cocky smile and showed everyone gathered behind it the evidence of how much she liked being bent over her desk and spanked.

“You wanna please me?” Franky asked and Erica groaned, deeply.  “Do you want to please me?” Franky repeated, enunciating her words with a harsh precision that made Erica feel faint.  “Erica!”  Franky’s voice was sharp, and carried a warning of punishment if Erica kept refusing to reply.

“Yes,” Erica breathed out, even though the thought of punishment excited her just as much as giving into Franky’s demands.

“Do you want me inside of you?” Franky asked a little breathlessly as she watched Erica, deeply aroused by how aroused Erica was.

“Yes,” Erica moaned softly.

“Fuck yourself like I would,” Franky instructed, unconsciously placing her hand on her thigh and trailing it up towards … Franky dug her fingers into the material of the track pants, squeezing her thigh tightly to stop her hand from moving any higher.  Her position in the office didn’t offer any cover.  If she touched herself and someone walked by, she would be seen and she didn’t want that any more than Erica did. 

Erica gripped at the edge of her desk with her left hand and her eyes opened deliriously as she entered herself and began to slowly pump her fingers.

“I said like I would,” Franky told her, forcing a note of displeasure into her voice.  “Harder, Erica.  I’d want you to feel it,” she informed the blonde, pleased to see Erica start to drive her fingers into herself with more force.  “I’d want you to know.”

“Know what?” Erica managed to gasp.

“That you’re my bitch,” Franky replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “That your cunt belongs to me, and I’ll do what I want with it,” she continued, her breathing becoming shallower as she watched Erica release her hold on the desk so that she could move her left hand between her legs as well.

It required a supreme amount of effort, but as Erica started rubbing at her clit with her left hand while still fucking herself with her right, Franky angled her head towards the office window.  She hadn’t noticed anyone in her periphery while she’d been talking to Erica, but she wanted to make sure that there was no one lingering around.  She could see that Erica was close to coming, and she didn’t think that the blonde was going to be able to stop her body from spasming when her orgasm hit.  She doubted that anyone looking in the window would be able to tell why Erica’s body was jerking, but the movement would be suspicious.  There was no one out there however and Erica’s secretary had her back to them, so it was with a renewed sense of confidence that Franky turned her attention back to Erica.

“Mine to fuck,” Franky continued, picking up right where she left off.  “Mine to eat,” Franky went on and Erica whimpered softly.  “Mine to slap.  Mine to fucking trade for cigarettes and magazines,” Franky declared, squeezing her thighs together as Erica moaned and mewled. 

A constant stream of soft vocalizations began to fall from Erica’s lips as Franky knew that it wouldn’t be long before she came.  She wondered…

“Erica,” Franky said. 

Erica only moaned. 

“Use your words,” Franky ordered, and then she repeated Erica’s name.

“Yes,” Erica whispered.

“I want you to come for me … **now**.”

Though she knew it was unlikely, a part of Franky hoped that Erica would orgasm as soon as the words were past her lips, but though Erica moaned deliriously, it took another ten seconds before her body tensed and she cried out, her body shaking violently as her climax rocked her to her core.

It was beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful thing Franky had ever seen, and she gripped at the arm rests of her chair as her crossed legs and the sight of Erica twitching pushed her into a small, sympathetic orgasm.

The office was silent for a minute, except for the sound of Erica’s ragged breathing as she recovered from her orgasm, and then …

“Oh my god,” Erica exclaimed, yanking her hand out of her underwear.

She found herself staring at it for a moment, uncertain what to do, and then she reached for the tissue box on her desk and pulled out far too many white squares.

“Oh my god,” she repeated, her voice high and panicked as she wiped at her fingers with the jumbled wad of tissue paper she’d grasped.  “What is wrong with me?” she exclaimed, standing up and then sitting down again quickly when she realized that her skirt was still bunched up at her waist.

“Erica,” Franky began gently.

Erica didn’t respond to her.  She simply shifted in her chair, tugging at her skirt until it was back in position and then she stood up again and made a bee-line towards her door. When she reached the door, she extended her hand towards the knob and actually gripped it, but before she could pull the door open she started to shake and her hand fell away from the knob.

“Oh my god,” she repeated, stumbling away from the door until she was tucked into the corner of the office where she and Franky had first kissed.

Franky rose from her seat slowly once Erica had stopped moving.  She approached the blonde carefully, as she would have a skittish animal.  When she got close to Erica, the blonde reared back, trying to put more space between them.  The wall didn’t allow for backwards motion however, so Erica had to settle for lifting her hand up to keep Franky back.

“That didn’t work last time, what makes you think it’s gonna work now?” Franky asked softly, brushing Erica’s hand to the side so that she could step closer to her.  “It’s okay, you know,” she continued, resting her hand lightly on Erica’s shoulder as she dipped her head down, trying to get a look at Erica’s lowered eyes.

Erica released a disbelieving snort of air and angled her head to the side to avoid Franky’s gaze.

“That was **not** okay,” Erica whispered a moment later, her voice cracking slightly as she continued to avert her eyes.

“Why?” Franky asked softly.

“Why?” Erica sputtered. “Wh … because,” she exclaimed incredulously. “It’s … it’s not _normal_ ,” she sighed, defeated once again.  “I’m a deviant,” she breathed out, disgusted with the way her body tingled at the memory of masturbating in front of an inmate while she fantasized about being spanked and fingered and bartered for cigarettes.

A sarcastic response was on the tip of Franky’s tongue, but she bit it back.  She still had her hand on Erica’s arm, and she could feel the blonde trembling slightly.  She thought Erica’s worries about her ‘sexual deviancy’ were ridiculous, but it wasn’t a time for jokes.  Despite her feelings on the matter, what had just happened was hitting Erica hard, and Franky realized that the idea that the things she thought about and desired were wrong or abnormal had probably been torturing Erica for her entire adult life.

“You’re not a deviant,” Franky said, lifting her hands to Erica’s face so that she could gently tilt it up.  “You’re not,” she repeated when Erica’s eyes met hers briefly.  “There’s nothing wrong with you.  There’s nothing wrong with liking submission,” Franky stated, and Erica’s eyes closed and her breath hitched, just the word alone making her throb.  “You’re not a special snowflake.  Lots of people get off having someone talk dirty to them.  Lots of people like being choked,” Franky continued as Erica squeezed her eyes shut and angled her head to the side, trying to block out Franky’s words along with her sight.  “Lots of people like being spanked and commanded,” Franky went on.

“I don’t want to like it,” Erica rasped even as Franky’s words made her shiver.

“Erica,” Franky sighed sympathetically.  “You don’t have a choice.”

Erica tried to shrink back again, even though there was nowhere to escape.

“Look at me,” Franky breathed out.  “Look at me,” she repeated a moment later, using the firm tone she had used earlier when instructing Erica on what to do. 

Erica looked at her. 

“You don’t have a choice,” Franky said.  “This is who you are.”

“I don’t have to be,” Erica whispered stubbornly.

“If that was true, we wouldn’t be standing here right now,” Franky replied.  “If you could have willed it away, you would have.  But here we are,” Franky said, shifting her  right hand down from Erica’s jaw to her neck, which she stroked gently for a few seconds before she tightened her fingers around it.  “Learn to enjoy it,” Franky whispered, lowering her other hand from Erica’s jaw to her breast, which she began to massage firmly.  “Cause these feelings aren’t gonna go anywhere,” she added before drawing Erica into a kiss.

Erica resisted the kiss for a moment.  The instinct to fight against what she desired was so ingrained in her that she couldn’t help it.  But the feel of Franky’s fingers around her neck and the warmth of Franky’s body pressed flush against her as Franky handled her breast, relaxed her.  She leaned into the kiss, accepting it and her desire for it.  She gave herself permission to enjoy it.  

“Witness,” Franky breathed out when she pulled back from Erica’s lips a minute later. “The world is still turning.”

Erica’s lips quirked up and she surprised herself by laughing.

“You’re a little shit,” she murmured, smiling shyly as she gazed at Franky who grinned at her and then bobbed her head up and down in agreement, which made Erica smile wider.

“This scares me,” Erica admitted a moment later, lowering her eyes again though she didn’t try to pull away from Franky.

“I know,” Franky murmured, stroking Erica’s cheek lightly, a gentle smile touching her lips a moment later when Erica instinctively leaned into the touch.  “It’s a bit exciting though, isn’t it?”

“No,” Erica replied immediately, even though she felt calmer and more peaceful in that moment than she had in recent memory.

What was happening between herself and Franky was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.  How they were together, the feelings that Franky brought out in her, it was all so different from everything she had known, and it frightened her.  But Franky also made her feel alive.  Franky fascinated her and pushed her and excited her like no one else, and she wanted that.  She wanted the feelings, and the fear, and the pleasure, and the peace.  She wanted Franky.  It was stupid, and dangerous, and she would likely end up paying for it dearly one day, but the more she breathed in Franky’s clean scent and felt the warmth of Franky’s body seeping into her own, the more she didn’t care about the consequences.

“Liar,” Franky accused playfully, and Erica smiled at her.

“No one can find out about this,” Erica breathed out a few seconds later, Channing’s words from their last meeting coming back to her as she gazed at Franky. 

‘ _Allow yourself the distraction,’_ he’d advised her. _‘But just make sure the other party doesn’t want to get caught either’._  

“If they do,” Erica continued, lifting her hand to cover Franky’s where it lay against her cheek, “I’ll be sacked … and you’ll be swapped out,” she breathed, her brows knitting together in confusion when Franky grinned at her.  “It’s not funny, Franky.”

“No, well a little,” Franky breathed out.  “You’re pathological.  I stop topping you for half a minute and you start plotting.”

Erica rolled her eyes at Franky.

“I’m not plotting,” Erica replied seriously.

“I’ve never met someone so in love with their own bullshit,” Franky muttered, shaking her head at Erica though she was obviously amused by her.   “You only brought up the possibility of me being swapped out in order to align my interests with yours.  You wanted to remind me that we swim together or we sink together.”  

Erica’s lips parted to protest, but then she sighed and said, “You’re right.”

“Did it hurt?  Admitting that?” Franky asked, making Erica laugh despite herself.  “Do you need to sit down?”

“Oh shut up,” Erica muttered playfully.

She pushed at Franky’s shoulders and Franky stepped back without protest, certain for maybe the first time since they had met that Erica wasn’t trying to run from her.

“Your office is too exposed,” Franky commented as she sauntered back over to her chair while Erica moved behind her desk.  “Talking is great and everything, but I would like to actually fuck you at some point.”

“Obviously, that’s a priority for me too,” Erica said, a blush touching her cheeks as she shuffled papers that didn’t need to be shuffled in order to give her hands something to do.  “It’ll take some time however, to work out the logistics.”  She paused for a moment and then looked over at Franky.  “But before we talk about that --”

Franky began to laugh.  “My turn to put out now, I reckon,” she drawled, arching a dark eyebrow at Erica.

“We did have a deal,” Erica replied.

Franky nodded slowly and then leaned back in her chair casually.

“I can’t tell you who’s dealing the heroin, but I can tell you what unit it’s coming out of.”

“Will you be able to tell me who’s dealing when I work out the logistics?” Erica asked, arching her eyebrow at Franky.

Franky laughed easily at that and it reminded Erica of the times they had shared, before she was Governor and before the slot, when they used to joke around and have fun during Franky’s tutoring sessions. It reminded her how much she missed Franky’s company.  It made her realize how much she was looking forward to seeing Franky without fighting with her.

“I’m not holding out on you,” Franky began seriously a moment later.  “I mean I can guess who’s behind it, but that’s not much help to you, is it?  I’m sure you’ve got a name in mind too, but you need proof not conjecture.”

“And how to do you plan on getting this proof?” Erica asked warily.

Franky grinned at her.  “I could really use a coffee.”  

She looked at Erica expectantly and Erica laughed before reaching for the phone.

“Can I get anything else for you?” Erica asked, mockingly solicitous.

“Some bickies’d be nice,” Franky said thoughtfully.

“Hmm,” Erica hummed as she hit a button on her phone.

She lifted the receiver to her ear.

“Jean … no a little while longer.  Could … um yes … oh, two coffees … hmm, yes, that’s everything.”

“So that’s how it’s going to be,” Franky breathed out, glaring at Erica jokingly when the blonde hung up without ordering her biscuits.

Erica shrugged indifferently and then smiled.

“See if I invite you to my next birthday party,” Franky groused and Erica’s smile grew brighter.

“If you don’t invite me, I can’t get you a present,” Erica murmured a few seconds later.

“Isn’t that against the rules?  I thought the Governor couldn’t play favourites.”

Erica wet her lips and then bit down on her bottom lip, worrying it for a few seconds. 

“I’d say that ship’s already sailed,” she exhaled.  A small smile touched her lips.  “Mine will be the one without a card.”

“Okay,” Franky said smiling at her before she allowed her eyes to drift around the office for a few moments.  “When’s your birthday anyway?” she asked, settling her gaze on Erica again.

“The 27th,” Erica replied.

“Of what month?” Franky asked tilting her head to the side, trying to look unimpressed with Erica’s vagaries, though her gaze was fond.

Erica shrugged. 

“You’re so smart, you figure it out.”

“Is that a challenge?” Franky inquired, arching a dark eyebrow at the blonde.

“If you want it to be,” Erica murmured.

“You know I always come out on top,” Franky replied.

Her voice was low and a little dangerous and a flush of warmth traveled through Erica at the sound of it.

“Prove it,” Erica rasped and the heated look in her eyes made Franky grin.

“Don’t you have an override code?” Franky asked, raking her eyes over what she could see of Erica’s body suggestively.  “Can’t you just turn the cameras off in a storage closet or something?”

“It would be logged,” Erica sighed.  “Logistics,” she murmured sadly a moment later.

“Logistics,” Franky exhaled.  She’d never hated a word more.  “What about after-hours tutoring in the library?”

Erica’s lips parted to respond, but before she could there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called out.

A moment later her secretary Jean entered the office carrying a coffee in each of her hands.  Erica greeted Jean warmly, and they chatted for a minute, going over a few points about Erica’s schedule for the rest of that day.  Erica smiled and nodded in the right places, seemingly paying attention to what was being said, but her attention was really focused on Franky who was making funny faces at her from behind Jean. 

“Alone at last,” Franky breathed out, wiggling her eyebrows at Erica when Jean had exited the room.

“If only,” Erica sighed, leaning over her desk to hand Franky one of the coffees.  “Really?” she asked a moment later, rolling her eyes when Franky’s gaze dipped down to her cleavage and held there. 

“Don’t act like you mind,” Franky murmured as she took the coffee from Erica and leaned back in her chair.  “You like it when I look at you almost as much as you like _how_ I look at you,” she stated with an absolute confidence that resonated between Erica’s legs.

Erica held Franky’s gaze challengingly for a moment, but she ended up breaking the gaze without disagreeing.

“Your idea about after-hours tutoring in the library,” Erica breathed out, relaxing back into her chair.  “I’ll look into the logistics of it.” 

 

The End


End file.
